Saturday
of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time
November 28, 2015 8:30am
Today’s gospel passage has
potentially a number of interpretations.
It is, coincidentally, part of
the gospel for Masses this Sunday.
So, I don’t want to give away my
Sunday homily.
But I do want to say this.
Jesus is not trying to make us
afraid with all this foreboding imagery.
That would be counter to the
repeated times where he tells us not be afraid.
And he does not want us to
predict when all of this will happen.
Good Scriptural scholarship tells
us that this approach is not right either.
So what does Jesus mean?
I think the truth is that we have
all had or will have terrible days:
the day after the sleepless
night,
the day we got the devastating
lab report,
the day we were forced to pack up
our belongings and walk out of our job,
the day we said good-bye for the
last time.
Jesus calls us on those days to
hold on to our faith that he is with us.
Maybe he comes to us directly in
the Eucharist or through personal prayer.
Maybe he comes though the wisdom
of a priest or a counselor or a friend.
Maybe he comes though the reassuring
caring of family members.
Jesus calls us to “be vigilant:” to look for his presence,
in the present, especially when the ways of God seem hidden and all seems lost
and anxiety and sadness overwhelm us.
God is and will be with us.
